A.M. Links: Trump Woos GOP Insiders, Bernie Out-Fundraises Hillary, U.S. Ranks 41st in World Press Freedom Index

• 

  Credit: Todd Kranin

  Donald Trump currently has 846 delegates and needs to reach 1,237 to secure the Republican presidential nomination before this summer's GOP convention. Is he on track to do so?

• Republican insiders are reportedly warming up to the idea of Trump as the party's presidential nominee.

• Bernie Sanders has now out-fundraised Hillary Clinton for the third month in a row.

• According to a new report on world press freedom, the United States ranks 41 out of 180 when it comes to measuring the "level of freedom of information" in those countries. Why did the U.S. score as low as it did? The report cites "the government's war on whistleblowers who leak information about its surveillance activities, spying and foreign operations, especially those linked to counter-terrorism."

• A ship carrying at least 500 migrants has sunk in the Mediterranean. Only 41 survivors have been reported.

• Today is the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.

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Comments

[Bee Tagger]

Bernie Sanders has now out-fundraised Hillary Clinton for the third month in a row.

Wait until Citizens United makes a movie about him.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Hello.

Donald Trump? Pft. Quebec is an expert on producing many a Donald Trump. This was after the separatists lost in the 1995 referendum:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GByr7xbvRlI

[UnCivilServant]

Illegal canadian cloning!

[Raven Nation]

Are they still swooning over Trudeau's explanation of quantum computing?

[UnCivilServant]

No body listens to that whoreson.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Probably.

I'm not convinced he understands it. If he makes a mess of simple things how can he grasp the tenets of QC?

Maybe it was his 'Frank the Tank' debate moment. Who knows?

[Irish ?s Lauren Southern]

It's my understanding that he took a tour of a lab where they explained QC to him and then repeated what he just learned, at which time the Canadian media sucked his dick for four days.

Is that about right?

[Raven Nation]

It seemed a little staged.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Wouldn't surprise me in the least.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

In the military, I worked for a MI Colonel who we'd brief up every day on a complex set of recruiting data and metrics.

He'd then brief the General on those subjects. It would come out slick and informed.

The next day, we'd have to repeat every thing, because not a jot or tittle of the information stuck.

Fricken' parrot!

[Meow-shawn!]

Where's FISTIE? I ONLY COME HERE FOR FISTIE!!!

[Trials and Trippelations]

Routine maintenance

[Fist of Etiquette]

I have a little thing called a life, you know.

[Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair]

And little it is, and little enough of it. So leave him alone.

[Raven Nation]

What'd you do with FOE?

[Bee Tagger]

Republican insiders are reportedly warming up to the idea of Trump as the party's presidential nominee.

Republican insiders seek to remain Republican insiders.

[Brett L]

STEVE SMITH victims loosen up over time, too.

[Lord Humungus]

Florida's Dragon Problem
Huge monitor lizards have invaded the state, and the rest of the U.S. is one unlucky boatload away.

The speckled body of the Nile monitor lizard can reach up to 2 meters in length. At one end is a powerful tail that propels the animal through water and whips attackers with surprising force. At the other is a sinuous head that will devour rodents, birds, fish, crocodile eggs, and pretty much anything else within range of its fearsome, recurved teeth. The monitor isn't fussy. It's a formidable animal, and the largest lizard in Africa.

It's also the largest lizard in Florida.

No one knows exactly when the monitor arrived in Florida, but it was first spotted in 1990. It was probably introduced as part of the pet trade. It then either escaped or was released by people who realized much too late that maybe a huge, intelligent, active, predatory lizard doesn't make a great pet.

[WTF]

But are they tasty?

[Brett L]

I'll bet they make decent boots.

[kbolino]

the rest of the U.S. is one unlucky boatload away

Not really. There's a reason these things flourish in hot, humid Florida.

[Brett L]

Not enough Cajuns who will make a gumbo of anything that moves?

[dantheserene]

That's certainly one way to address invasive species. When in doubt, make gumbo.

[UnCivilServant]

"This cane toad gumbo is making people sick"

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

"Needs to be cooked longer"

[Jerryskids]

That reason is Florida Man. Those monitor lizards show up anywhere else and they're no longer the smartest predator species in the environment.

[Rich]

"The State is carefully monitoring the situation."

[OneOut]

What the hell.

One of them posts here.

[Bee Tagger]

Donald Trump currently has 846 delegates and needs to reach 1,237 to secure the Republican presidential nomination before this summer's GOP convention.

Politics: come for the ability to control others' lives but stay for the arcanity.

[Lord Humungus]

Snakes fall from elementary school ceiling

According to an anonymous WMC Action News 5 viewer, snakes are infesting Walls Elementary School. One snake even fell from the ceiling, right next to a teacher's desk.

Parents and family members of students and faculty are concerned about the reptilian presence. They said the school is located in a field, so it's not surprising that snakes and other animals are nearby.

"They're plowing this time of year and it makes the snakes and frogs and everything else move out of the area," John Thompson said.

[WTF]

"I'm sick and tired of these Goddam snakes in this Goddam school!"

[some guy]

You're going to have to practice your swearing if you want to be worthy of Samuel L. Jackson.

[Chipwooder]

SNAKES! IN A MUTHAFUCKIN' SCHOOOOL!

[Libertarian]

Wait, I've got an idea! Do monitors eat snakes?

[Lord Rollingpin]

Lisa: 'But what happens when we are overrun by monitor lizards.'

[Jerryskids]

We unleash wave after wave of our own men on them until the lizards hit their pre-set kill limit.

[Citizen X]

These masturbation euphemisms are getting pretty abstract.

[Rich]

OTOH, they save money on field trips.

[Zeb]

I used to have baby snakes fall out of my ceiling. It was a big mystery until I tore down my old stone chimney and discovered that it was just full of snakes and snake eggs. They must have been moving into the house when it started getting cold. Too bad for them that there were cats waiting for them.

[R C Dean]

*Imagines cats in pre-positioned spider holes, overwatch positions, and classic L-shaped ambushes*

[Bee Tagger]

The report cites "the government's war on whistleblowers who leak information about its surveillance activities, spying and foreign operations, especially those linked to counter-terrorism."

I bet they didn't even consult Congress before engaging in this war, #smh

[Lord Humungus]

Grandmother attacked husband with meat tenderiser after she caught him watching porn

Lynda Holmes, 70, repeatedly bashed 78-year-old Gordon Holmes over the head at their Lancashire home after she thought he was trying to destroying the material.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Mr Holmes ran out into the street bleeding and told neighbours his wife had gone 'mad'.

When police asked Mrs Holmes what happened she said: "I caught him with porn. He tried to get rid of it. I've seen red and attacked him. I wanted to kill him.

"It should be murder. I want 10 years of my life back. I saw red mist.

"He hasn't touched me for over 10 years and now he's watching porn. How dare he? How do I go about getting 10 years of my life back?"

[Brett L]

Throw her a bone, mate.

[WTF]

"He hasn't touched me for over 10 years and now he's watching porn.

Lady, you're 70 years old, for Christ sake.

[Lee G]

She seems pleasant

[Libertarian]

I couldn't figure out why she used a "meat tenderizer." Did she sprinkle it on his naughty bits, or what?

And then I read the first sentence of the article: A furious gran has been spared jail for attacking her husband of 50 years with a meat hammer after catching him watching pornography.

Now all I have to find out is what the euphemism "meat hammer" really means.

[Lord Rollingpin]

'Rachel Woods, defending, said it was a 'moment of madness' and happened shortly before their golden wedding anniversary.'

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

"Today is the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain."

Who?

[kbolino]

Sorry, Queen Elizabeth II of Canada.

[Restoras]

And where?

[Zeb]

That's your queen, Rufus. Be a good subject.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

She ain't my Queen no matter what Parliament sezzzz!

[UnCivilServant]

You're not fooling anyone, we know you have a shine to the royal family in the back of the day care.

[Lord Humungus]

Nude restaurant to open in London for the summer

The eatery will feature wood-flame grilled food served on handmade clay plates with edible cutlery "in a space voice of the industrialized-world's modern trappings."

"We believe people should get the chance to enjoy and experience a night out without any impurities: no chemicals, no artificial colors, no electricity, no gas, no phone and even no clothes if they wish to," said Lollipop founder Seb Lyall.

"The idea is to experience true liberation."

includes a SugarFree-like bonus picture

[SugarFree]

You never experienced true luxury until you've sat nude on a rough-sawn log and eaten salad.

[Old Man With Candy]

I'm still picking splinters out of my taint from the last dinner we had at your place. BTW, your niece's Snoopy diaphragm was super cute.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Did he toss your salad?

[Citizen X]

That's barely even a euphemism.

[Zeb]

I'm all for social nudity, but I'm not sure about a restaurant.

[Zeb]

For real authenticity, they should just have you squat naked in the dirt and eat live grubs.

[Lee G]

uhhhhhh, no thanks

[Pompey]

Breakfast today: two fried eggs - over easy with cracked black pepper and some Hungarian hot paprika - on top of a pile of cumin-spiced red potato, red beet, butternut squash, sweet potato, and ground linguica hash. I feel alright.

Last night I made this fusion soup that was something like a mix between corned beef and cabbage and miso that, oddly enough, workd: bacon fat-fried cutlets of corned beef thin-sliced with shredded cabbage, Chinese eggplant, summer squash, nori, with a sweet miso paste, and a handful of dried baby anchovies. Sounds gross, but it worked.

[Jerryskids]

I made some chili.

2-3 lb cheap roast, whatever's marked down for last day of sale, cut into bite-sized chunks
1/2 lb chorizo sausage
browned in a skillet and tossed in the crockpot along with
1 can beef broth
1 can tomato sauce
some chopped onion and mixed hot peppers and
enough water to cover
simmered a few hours until the meat is tender then added
lots more chopped onion
lots more chopped bell pepper
lots more mixed peppers (there's a guy at the flea market that sells packets of various dried peppers)
2 cans chopped stewed tomatoes and
simmered another couple hours until the meat starts falling apart like shredded beef and
served on a plate with a stack of tortillas and
gobbled that shit up.

[bacon-magic]

Where's the chili powder???

[OneOut]

He didn't use chili powder

He did it the right way and used the dried chili's themselves.

[Jerryskids]

The perfect heat is when you take that first bite and think you didn't add enough pepper but after a couple of minutes and a few more bites you feel a little warmth in your belly and your throat and the back of your mouth and half-way through a plate you realize you're sweating and your eyes are watery and your nose is running and you now fully appreciate why God's invention of cold beer was some of His finest work.

[OneOut]

After reading that I realize that jk and I share some culinary tastes.

We're it ever to come about in the future I could enjoy a meal at jk's casa.

[Akira]

Do you ever dump a bottle of beer in your chili? I find that Yuengling Black & Tan works well for this purpose.

[gaoxiaen]

Pretty late today.

[Monty Crisco]

Slate is just trolling us FLAMBOYANTLY now?.

Which White Guy Should Obama Replace When We Honor Him on Our Currency?

Widely acknowledged FACT?!?!?

"That Obama is the United States' most admirable, accomplished modern president is a widely acknowledged fact, of course?"

OF COURSE?!?!? OF FUCKING COURSE?!?!?!
What the fuck is going on?.?

[Restoras]

Denial - it's a river in Africa

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

most admirable, accomplished modern president in the last five years?

[Doctor Whom]

Someone is trying to compete directly with Salon?

[Mickey Rat]

It is just as obvious as Himself winning a Nobel Prize for...um, existing.

[Libertarian]

It's Pauline Kael's world. We just live in it.

[Lord Humungus]

Kevin Williamson: Our Savonarolas

What might drive a young libertarian into the "revolution" that Sanders proclaims? One thing is the ongoing Rothbardian bent in libertarian foreign-policy thinking, and Sanders is the only candidate in the race who isn't entirely hostile to non-interventionism on the Ron Paul model. On lifestyle-libertarian issues ? marijuana, stance toward religious traditionalists and their institutions ? Sanders is the libertarians' man, in practice. Sanders is energetically anti-libertarian on questions of trade and immigration, but a nontrivial number of self-professed libertarians have abandoned those issues or reversed themselves on them, "libertarian" now being used with unfortunate looseness to mean "right-wing populist who does not wish to be identified with Mitch McConnell's party."

[WTF]

Kevin Williamson has no clue as to what a libertarian actually is.

[kbolino]

I don't think he's defining the term, only observing people who use it for themselves.

[Monty Crisco]

In that article, he was going off a presidential straw poll conducted by a libertarian student group found that the most popular candidate among its members was Donald Trump. Second place: Bernie Sanders.

KW is actually more libertarian than 90% of pundits on the right - and obviously ALL the pundits on the left.

[Idle Hands]

Well I don't know who Kevin Williamson is talking about, but those people mentioned aren't true libertarians. I am the one true libertarian and my views weren't represented in that article.

[Citizen X]

I am the one true libertarian

Wrong, Tulpa.

[Idle Hands]

That's just like you Tulpa, accuse some innocent of being you to throw us off your scent.

[Citizen X]

We're all Tulpa down here.

[Jerryskids]

I'm not Tulpa, but I did Tulpa at a Tulpa Inn last Tulpa.

[Warty]

In fairness to KDW, fuck Murray Rothbard and all his clones. I've had enough in particular with Hans-Hermann Hoppe and his "only white men who don't like cock too much can rule themselves" nonsense.

[Zeb]

But it's OK if they like cock a little bit?

[Warty]

Ask Jesse about his adventures with "straight" men sometime.

[Crusty Juggler]

Don't do that.

[Zeb]

I've seen him make a few references to those adventures.

[WTF]

Just the tip.

[R C Dean]

On lifestyle-libertarian issues ? marijuana, stance toward religious traditionalists and their institutions ? Sanders is the libertarians' man, in practice.

Sanders is a supporter of traditional religion and defends the free exercise of religion from state intrusion? He supports, for example, the Catholic institutions that don't want to pay (directly or indirectly) for birth control?

Really?

[Lord Humungus]

Branko Milanovic advocates reinventing apartheid

In an op-ed in the Financial Times, the economist Branko Milanovic advocates that in order to fight global poverty, we should introduce explicit systems of differentiated citizenship in wealthy countries under which immigrants (and their children? and their children's children?) would be entitled only to a reduced package of rights. He argues that we should

redefine citizenship in such a way that migrants are not allowed to lay claim to the entire premium falling to citizens straight away, if at all. Restricting the citizenship rights of migrants in this way would assuage the concerns of the native population, while still ensuring the migrants are better off than they would be had they stayed in their own countries. As happens currently in the Gulf states, migrants could be allowed to work for a limited number of years, or to work only for a given employer, or else be obliged to return to their country of origin every four or five years. They could also be made to pay higher taxes since they are the largest net beneficiaries of migration. Despite such discriminatory treatment, the welfare of migrants and their families would increase, while native populations would not be made to share their entire premium with incomers.

[Hamster of Doom]

"There must be some way to exploit this for our own gain. Quick, what's the stupidest, most divisive idea that a gullible public will accept?"

[Free Society]

Probably the best way to make the host society a net beneficiary would be to stop paying the migrants with welfare. You'd attract higher quality immigrants, get better productive value out of them and likely lose most of the deadbeat immigrants that have accumulated over the years.

[SugarFree]

But we'd still be stuck with your stupid ass, right?

[Free Society]

You do need a supply of people to troll, what with you being a troll and all that.

[SugarFree]

Hurr!

[Lord Humungus]

Key Country Puts Up Border Fence, Illegal Crossings To EU Drop 90 Percent

The refugee influx to the European Union has halted drastically since Macedonia fenced off its border to Greece in February, according to EU's border service Frontex.

Just 4,930 people entered Macedonia from Greece illegally in March ? a 90 percent decline compared to the same month last year. Macedonia's refugee influx stood at 60,000 as recently as January, and the downward trend can be attributed to a fence that went up in February.

Macedonia is the first country on the so-called Balkan route, which connects Greece to the rest of the European Union. More than 800,000 migrants used this route in 2015.

[kbolino]

Wouldn't you also have to compare the rate of people entering Greece during the same times?

If the rate of influx into Greece also dropped 90% during the same time, it's hard to say that the fence was responsible.

My guess is that it's a combination of factors.

[UnCivilServant]

It's also that given the state of communication, when the economic migrants learn that a given route has been blocked, they re-route to an easier one, which would still credit the fence.

[kbolino]

True, but that would still manifest in some numbers somewhere (presuming they are being measured).

[UnCivilServant]

I believe the data showed a shift to the Italian route.

[kbolino]

Ah, ok. It's also possible that the fence can act as a deterrent further stages up the line (something called "back pressure" in control theory) even without re-routing.

[WTF]

Walls don't work.

[John]

Its impossible to secure the border or deport anyone.

[kbolino]

It's impossible to secure the border with CBP and DHS. A different group of people, or at least a different set of rules, might make it possible.

[Zeb]

And shorter borders that aren't mostly in the middle of an unpopulated desert help too. Of course fences can work if you have the personnel to monitor all of it and can get people to any point on it very quickly. But on the US/Mexico border, that is a very big and very expensive project.

[kbolino]

I do wonder where the majority are actually crossing. You would think at this point CBP would have enough unattended monitoring, whether with senors or drones, to at least be able to detect any crossing that doesn't go through the official checkpoints, even if they can't stop it. My guess is that you don't have to wall the entire border off, only the best crossing spots, until you've made it infeasible to cross the border in large numbers.

[kbolino]

I suppose that isn't really securing it, though; people can still get through with enough effort. But even North Korea and East Germany didn't manage to create impermeable barriers.

[UnCivilServant]

North Korea and East Germany also generated a massive amount of incentives to leave.

The question is - when do we reduce the incentives to come here?

[kbolino]

The question is - when do we reduce the incentives to come here?

The practical answer is likely never. You could get rid of Federal welfare but then certain states and municipalities will be falling over themselves to provide more.

Honestly, combating SSN fraud would go a long way to helping the situation. If the credit card companies can do it, then so can the Federal government, albeit not on schedule or under budget.

[Zeb]

It would be great if we could reduce the free shit incentives to come here. But I hope we never lose the incentives of a reasonably good economy and decent paying work, which I remain convinced is the primary reason for immigration to the US. If you are a country that is a (relatively) good place to live, there will always be great incentives for people to immigrate. The only real solution is for there to be better opportunity and standard of living where the immigrants are coming from.

[R C Dean]

Ultimately, a fence works if (a) people don't really want to cross it very badly or (b) if they do, you shoot them.

[Zeb]

Yup. And on a long and desolate border like US/Mexico, shooting them is going to take a whole lot of man power and the political will to kill a lot of fairly sympathetic people.

[Illocust]

Point of security is not to stop someone (which is impossible, someone will always find a way around it), but to convince someone that your neighbor would be an easier target.

[Doctor Whom]

According to a new report on world press freedom, the United States ranks 41 out of 180 when it comes to measuring the "level of freedom of information" in those countries.

The Obama administration has prosecuted more whistleblowers under the Espionage Act than all previous administrations combined.

The silence from my Obot friends on this matter is deafening and telling.

[Zeb]

I'm not sure that "press freedom" is the right word for what they are talking about. Sounds more like government transparency, which the US is definitely bad on. Freedom of the press means you can publish whatever you want without punishment. And while not perfect, the US is pretty damn good about that compared to pretty much any other country. In Germany and many other countries ahead of the US, you can be considered a criminal simply for publishing certain things. Seems like that should take a lot more away from your free press ranking.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I think it's an aspect of press freedom, but it's only one of many. Ratings like this are simply reflections of the kinds of freedoms the rankers value. And posturing. It's a lot like going after the US for human rights issues because some states are not in favor of gender-neutral restrooms while seemingly being unaware of countries that execute gays.

[Zeb]

There is a lot of bias toward making the US seem as bad as possible. Though our governments aren't doing much to help the image.

[grrizzly]

This is the write-up on the US in the report.

Freedom ends where national security begins

US media freedom, enshrined in the First Amendment to the 1787 constitution, has encountered a major obstacle ? the government's war on whistleblowers who leak information about its surveillance activities, spying and foreign operations, especially those linked to counter-terrorism. Furthermore, US journalists are still not protected by a federal "shield law" guaranteeing their right not to reveal their sources and other confidential work-related information.

[Zeb]

It's a fine distinction, and that kind of transparency and protection for whistle blowers is important too, but I don't really think that is strictly speaking press freedom. People aren't punished for publishing things, they are punished for leaking or refusing to reveal sources. Those are often bad things, but a separate issue in my mind.

I'm kind of a purist in insisting that "free press" means the right to publish what you will, not the freedom of professional journalists to operate as is most convenient to them. I think shield laws are a good idea, but not required by the first amendment.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

BS, if you can't protect your sources, then you won't have any sources, which restricts freedom of the press.

Shield laws are essential.

[Zeb]

My whole point is that equating "the press" with professional journalism has resulted in some terrible precedents like special exceptions to laws for journalists (if journalists can't be forced to reveal sources in court, then no one should be forced to reveal where they got any kind of information) and laws restricting advertising and electioneering press and speech.

It's a fine distinction, perhaps, but I think it is an important one. Free press means journalists can publish whatever they want without fear of punishment. But it doesn't mean they can't be called on to testify when information has been illegally released (and I think that most people agree (though not necessarily me) that some information is appropriately kept secret). I am all for shield laws for journalists and anyone who cares about having a watchdog press should support them. But I remain unconvinced that they are implicit in the first amendment.

[Rich]

Bernie Sanders has now out-fundraised Hillary Clinton for the third month in a row.

Thank God for Superdelegates!

[R C Dean]

For ordinary candidates, political fundraising is how cronies and rentseekers set up access and quid pro quos.

For somebody as fabulously corrupt as Hillary, with a well-established money-laundering machine in full operation, the cronies and rentseekers can give their payoffs directly, rather than indirectly.

Hence, Hillary isn't making bank through political fundraising. She's doing it the old-fashioned way: with bribes.

[Lord Humungus]

Where Donald Trump's support really comes from

Take education: on average, voters with a high-school education or less have made up 16% of the Republican electorate overall and a fifth of Mr Trump's voting base; but college graduates and postgraduates account for 43% of his support. Looking at income: voters earning under $50,000 have made up 29% of the electorate and 32% of Mr Trump's support. Those earning over $100,000 have accounted for 37% of the electorate and 34% of his base. In Illinois, for example, he took 46% of the vote among low earners, but they made up only a quarter of the electorate, whereas he attracted 39% of the highest earners, who made up two-fifths of that primary's voters.

He does not have a majority of the "rich vote". The race is split. But the idea that it is mostly poor, less-educated voters who are drawn to Mr Trump is a bit of a myth

[Idle Hands]

Beta's who need a strong man to take their women and tell them what to do.

[John]

Single betas I think. But married betas are likely not to vote for Trump. They vote for whomever their dominant feminist wives tell them to vote for and that is likely to be Hillary or maybe Bernie.

[Rich]

Fight Breaks Out At Gender-Neutral Bathroom Protest

Unfortunately, no one flang poo.

[Libertarian]

Everybody have fun tonight
Everybody flung poo tonight

[John]

I guess Mexicans didn't get the memo that trannies are sacred like the gays.

[Zeb]

Don't they appreciate their place in the holy trifecta?

[John]

I looks like they don't.

[WTF]

Just wait until the SJWs move onto furries and otherkin.

[Lord Humungus]

Will Reason now throw their weight behind this candidate?

Donald Trump: Transgender People Should Be Allowed to Use Bathroom of Their Choice

During an NBC Today town hall Thursday, Donald Trump said he had no problem with transgender people using whatever bathroom they chose and that a controversial North Carolina bathroom law has caused "a lot of problems" unnecessarily.

NBC's Willie Geist read off a question from Twitter. "Mr. Trump, please be specific. Tell us your views on LGBT, how you plan to be inclusive as president. Speak about North Carolina bathroom law in particular," he read.

"North Carolina did something that was very strong, and they are paying a big price and there's a lot of problems," responded Trump.

[Idle Hands]

Libertarian moment?

[Libertarian]

"North Carolina did something that was very strong, and they are paying a big price and there's a lot of problems,"

Is Trump running for office or is he some 9 year old trying to run his own news program?

[SugarFree]

He's just giving his fans what they demand: gibberish.

[Idle Hands]

But is it Authentic?

[Lord Humungus]

Restore America's Alliance with Saudi Arabia

Of course, this is not to say that the House of Saud is a good ally to America or to our values. Indeed, whether it's continued Saudi funding of a repellant Sunni supremacist ideology, the kingdom's previous funding of al-Qaeda, its empowerment of grotesque woman-beaters who hide under veils of false moral virtue, or its systematic persecution of the nation's Shia minority, the opposite is true. Nevertheless, America's failure to constructively engage with Saudi Arabia would be a disaster. That's because, absent U.S. influence, Saudi Arabia will inevitably slide into destructive sectarian paranoia ? exactly what is occurring at this moment. As I've depressingly noted, rather than constraining extremism, President Obama's Middle East strategy encourages the kingdom to resume its pre-2003 strategy of using jihadists as proxies. We must alter course.

[Rich]

absent U.S. influence, Saudi Arabia will inevitably slide into destructive sectarian paranoia

Yep, we've been pretty good at reining in paranoia lately.

[Free Society]

So we need to restore our "alliance" with Saudi Arabia so they don't try to kill us and work against the US at every opportunity. Sounds like a shitty "ally".

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Nice comment I found on defending the concept of capitalism:

"Capitalism doesn't just reward hard work. Capitalism rewards hard work that produces solutions for other people in proportion to the number of people for whom a problem has been solved.

For instance, a ditch digger that uses a shovel to dig a ditch for one person in the space of one week working 12 hours a day has only solved a problem for one person. Granted that person has worked hard, but his reward is only commensurate with the number of people for whom he solved a problem.

Another person that solves cancer by working 12 hour days for a whole week, has also worked hard, but that person has solved a problem for billions of people. As such, the reward for solving that many problems at the same time will be a far greater reward than digging one ditch for one person.

Capitalism is a system of property rights that says I can't hurt you and you can't hurt me. Without the option of force, the only choice people have to interact is voluntary cooperation. So, far from being everyman for himself, its everyman must cooperate with every other man if they want to utilize nature's laws with regards to the division of labor.... (con'td).

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

"Socialism, communism, and all those "isms" are really systems of rationalizations for theft, wherein people violate other people to make them work for their benefit. These coercive systems are about as far away from altruism as you can get. In such a system, if the mob targets you, you are truly on your own. These are the real dog-eat-dog systems where everyone is constantly at everyone else's throat as they all try to live off one another via the threat of force.

It can be noted that the violent overthrows do not happen in predominately capitalist societies as Marx claimed they would. The violence only occurs in the systems that move closer to Marx's prescriptions."

[Free Society]

All statism, at it's core, is an ideological rationalization of theft. One may be certain that we need a monopolized industry of laws, enforcement and dispute resolution, but that supposed necessity doesn't make taxation not theft, it doesn't make a monopoly enforced at the point of a gun less of an injustice. That person just finds those crimes useful.

[Zeb]

Yeah. Government and the state may be inevitable, or perhaps a necessary evil. But it's important not to forget what it really is.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Who is that person? Not the person who wrote it.

[Free Society]

Who is that person? Not the person who wrote it.

That's why I wrote "one" and not "you", I try to be deferential and I know you're one of the smart ones even if you are a minarchist. I'm just speaking generally.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

It's not the number of people, it's the value. They are often related, but they aren't the same thing.

[John]

The world doesn't care how hard you work or how righteous your cause is. What matters is how effective you are. Imagine if I am out in Las Vegas and Conner McGregor insults my wife. I have right on my side and want to avenge this. He would have someone hold his drink, straighten his tie, and then proceed to beat my skull in because he is a world class MMA fighter and I am not. The fact that I am right and have a good cause doesn't matter.

I think people are often drawn to socialism because they cannot accept the fact that being right or being nice doesn't determine the outcomes in the world. They can't accept the fact that hard work, talent and sometimes just dumb luck determines outcomes and not some weighing of the moral righteousness of each side.

[Zeb]

Yeah, but it's a nice way to present it to people who aren't already on board.

[Crusty Juggler]

The trailer for the new Jason Bourne movie. My money is on Tommy Lee Jones.

[What's that smell?]

Nope. nobody beats Bourne...he's B A DOUBLE D baddass!

[UnCivilServant]

Funny, he lost to my TV remote.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

"Socialism, communism, and all those "isms" are really systems of rationalizations for theft, wherein people violate other people to make them work for their benefit. These coercive systems are about as far away from altruism as you can get. In such a system, if the mob targets you, you are truly on your own. These are the real dog-eat-dog systems where everyone is constantly at everyone else's throat as they all try to live off one another via the threat of force.

It can be noted that the violent overthrows do not happen in predominately capitalist societies as Marx claimed they would. The violence only occurs in the systems that move closer to Marx's prescriptions."

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Sorry. Meant to be in reply to my own post.

[commodious spittoon]

Well, you're one for two.

[John]

http://www.nationalreview.com/.....an-beliefs

Walsh, a former member of the President's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, had accepted a job in Georgia as a district health director when Georgia officials became aware that he'd delivered a number of "controversial" sermons on his own time ? sermons where he articulated orthodox Seventh-day Adventist positions on, among other things, human sexuality, Islam, evolution, and the corrupting influence of pop culture....

When Georgia officials learned of Walsh's California controversy, they responded by immediately violating the law... E-mails indicate that health-department employees split the sermons up, listened to Walsh's religious views, and took notes. Walsh asserts that one department official called and told him that "you can't preach that and work in the field of public health." The very next day, Walsh claims that department officials held a "hastily arranged" meeting to discuss Walsh's employment.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/.....an-beliefs

He was fired for sermons he gave outside of work.

[Lord Humungus]

1990s WWE star Chyna dies at 46 in California

Chyna, the WWE star who in the 1990s became one of the best-known and most-popular female professional wrestlers in history, has died, authorities said.

Police in Southern California said they were responding to a 911 call from a friend of Chyna, whose real name is Joan Marie Laurer, when they found her dead in her Redondo Beach apartment.

A friend had gone Wednesday to check on Laurer after she had failed to answer her phone for a few days, Redondo Beach police said in a statement. The friend told the 911 operator that Laurer wasn't breathing.

[Idle Hands]

Crusty has a sad.

[Rhywun]

[wiki] After her parents divorced when she was approximately four years old, Laurer had three different stepfathers and one stepmother. According to Laurer, her first stepfather threatened suicide at one point, and her biological father, who once accidentally stabbed her mother in the thigh with a bread knife, had a problem with alcoholism.

Being from the same town and year of birth, this rings true to me...

[commodious spittoon]

Donald Trump currently has 846 delegates and needs to reach 1,237 to secure the Republican presidential nomination before this summer's GOP convention. Is he on track to do so?

At this point I'm looking forward to Clinton's overwhelming victory in November. The Nazi hunting in right-wing media is going to be delicious.

[John]

Clinton is only about 9 points ahead among registered voters. Its too far out right now to have any meaningful poll of likely voters. Nine points is hardly an insurmountable lead this far out. More importantly, Hillary is right now about as popular as she is ever going to be. Everyone knows who she is. It is unlikely that the nasty convention fight that is going to happen with the Bernie supporters is going to help her. She is also a terrible candidate who is unlikely to help herself.

Can she win? Sure. But even if you think she is likely to win, I can't see how there is any reasonable case that it is certain or that she would win an "overwhelming victory. The Democrats are not even going to be competitive in twenty states. And third parties are likely to do pretty well this year. Even if she wins, she is almost certainly won't crack 50% . Yet, most of the people on this board hold it as an article of religious faith that Hillary is going to win in a landslide. I don't get it.

[commodious spittoon]

She's going to take the Senate and possibly even the House with her, and #NeverTrump will be hunting Trumpalos through the streets.

[John]

That is absurd. Never Trump consists of a few hundred butt hurt conservative journalists and assorted politicians and comment board trolls. The vast majority of the Republican base will vote for whomever the nominee is. That may not be enough to win, but it certainly be enough to be competetive no matter who the nominee is, even if its some candidate to named later.

And the logic that Hillary is going to take the Congress is especially absurd. Even the people who think she is going to win think she will win by default and not because she is popular or a good candidate. Even good candidates often don't have coattails. Moreover, even if Republicans are angry over Trump, why would they then refuse to vote for their Senator or Rep? Most importantly, if you are right that Hillary is going to win in a walk, that makes the Democrats taking the Congress even less likely because people will ticket split to make sure there is some kind of check on what she does.

The pants shitting over this election is just astounding. It really is. It is one thing to think Trump won't win in November. It is quite another thing to then extrapolate that into some kind of apocalypse. Maybe if the Democrats were not as badly split as they are and had anything but a horrible candidate. But with that candidate and being split really even worse than the Republicans? No way.

[commodious spittoon]

#NeverTrump consists of a few hundred journalists and commentators, yes. Those never voting for Trump are somewhere north of 60% of the party and likely 70% of the country.

[John]

The polls say otherwise. He is behind Hillary but he is over 40% in every poll. Those 60% of the world hates Trump polls are bullshit. No poll of actual voters says that.

[commodious spittoon]

Not only is he hardcapped at a third of the party, he will lose supporters in the primary. The man is a gibbering moron. We can chat on November if I'm wrong, but you'd better hope I'm right, because as heinous as Hillary is, Trump is a major setback for libertarians.

[John]

A third party is likely to draw from Hillary just as much as him. Again, if the Democrats had even an average nominee, they might be able to win big. But they don't. They have Hillary and just as many or more problems than the Republicans have.

Regardless, even a strong third party showing wouldn't affect Congressional races.

[R C Dean]

The SS Hillary is only now really entering the iceberg infested waters. Its hard to imagine any significant development in her campaign that would be a positive for her. Terrible campaigner, health, FBI, etc.

[bacon-magic]

^Probably right. Trumptards are clueless.

[Spoonman.]

I'm starting to feel that Australia is right in how they handle people showing up in their country in boats. How many drown trying to reach Australia? Are they the ones being more humanitarian?

[UnCivilServant]

I have always sided with the australian solution as the most humane response. None of these destinations can absorb the numbers that try to flock to them, and with the fatalities in route, a clear, concise and definitive "No admittance" sign takes the wind out of the sails.

While this means these migrants remain in their original shitholes, they A: don't turn their destinations into shitholes and B: might actually be motivated to make their homes less shitty.

[Idle Hands]

Caps gonna Cap. Lose a game to an ex-goalie with a bone to pick.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Flyers will lose in 5, but it was nice not to get swept and to see Caps fans get all paranoid.

[Idle Hands]

I have every reason to be paranoid thank you very much. It would be the most Washington thing ever if you guys decided to win the next 4 because Neuvirth caught the hottest streak ever.

[Chipwooder]

The Sharks of the East will find a way to implode at some point.

[Elspeth Flashman]

OT: wish me luck today as I go to court to hopefully remove a sex offender from the registry.

[Crusty Juggler]

Good luck, toots!

[Lee G]

We all know it's you Crusty.

[Crusty Juggler]

Nooooooo. Lawyers try to get me placed on the sex offender list, not taken off.

[Jordan]

Why do you hate children?

[Old Man With Candy]

I don't.

[Idle Hands]

I don't know if I can, Steve Smith is on that list for a reason.

[commodious spittoon]

STEVE SMITH ON FLEEK IN SLEEVELESS SUIT. STEVE SMITH WILL HAVE DAY IN COURT. STEVE SMITH RENT APARTMENT ADJACENT TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, NO LONGER LIVE IN WOODS.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I should say alleged sex offender. He got a totally bad deal for pleading to CSC, which included a SOR requirement. His attorney at the time (we're alleging in the brief) provided ineffective assistance of counsel because impact of the registry was never explained to the defendant (who was 14 at the time he pleaded).

[Homple]

Good luck to your client and yourself.

Of course, let us know what happens.

[Rebel Scum]

Bernie Sanders has now out-fundraised Hillary Clinton for the third month in a row.

But we have to get teh big monies out of politics!!!

[Irish ?s Lauren Southern]

Federal park ranger gives tour of Independence Hall, claims the Constitution was only written to protect class privilege, says Parliament had the ability to remove the king from power (hint: they did not), asserts that the Constitution frequently mentioned slavery, and also said it's her job to 'breech sensitive issues.'

Federal employees are the best and brightest and deserve their six figure compensation packages

[Chipwooder]

A fucking park ranger makes $95K?

[Irish ?s Lauren Southern]

A *stupid leftist* park ranger.

[Chipwooder]

Shit, I went into the wrong line of work. I'll be glad to mumble some lefty horseshit about the nation's founding to bored tourists a few times a day for 95K

[Monty Crisco]

"BREECH" sensitive issues?

I guess leftists always take it in the rear...

[B.P.]

I noticed that, too. I love it when folks try to sound educated by using incorrect terminology.

[Lord Humungus]

What Happens When You Drink an Entire Bottle of Weed Lube

What's wrong?" he said, probably assuming I felt another yeast infection coming on.

"I drank it," I said, tears welling up in my eyes.

"You drank a bottle of lube...," he said flatly, sounding not at all surprised to find out that's what I had done.

"Yeah," I said. '"It has 45 times the recommended dose of THC in it, which I didn't realize when I drank it, and now I'm afraid."

My boyfriend comforted me by mentioning how it was almost time to go to bed, anyway, so the worst case scenario would be waking up a little groggy the next day, right? No. Nope?I was high for the next three days. Three full days. As I write this now, I still sort of feel like I am coming down.

[UnCivilServant]

So let me get this straight. Author was a moron. Author got stoned for days by misuing a product. Are they now going to demand said product be banned? (I'm not going to the site to find out, it's on my list of no-go sites)

[Lord Humungus]

Drinking Foria Weed Lube:
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Notes: I do not recommend drinking a full bottle of any kind of lube, including and especially not weed lube. Although, a few sprays of the weed lube in your mouth would probably lead to a mild, pleasant high.

[SugarFree]

No review of the product by the boyfriend? I want to know about the effects of dousing my balls with it. This is shoody journalism.

[Citizen X]

"Shoody," eh?

[SugarFree]

And the editting around here is atroious.

[Citizen X]

Agreeed.

[John]

And it sounds like she didn't suffer any real harm. She was high for three days? I guess if she had something really important to do, that would be a problem. Otherwise, call in sick at work and enjoy afternoon television for a few days.

Am I the only one who read that article and thought, "that sounds like a really fun and cheap staycation"?

[commodious spittoon]

Somehow I got spinal meningitis,
injecting all that hair spray in my spine.
Its a super cheap way to party,
if you aim to kill some brain cells and some time.

[UnCivilServant]

Am I the only one who read that article and thought, "that sounds like a really fun and cheap staycation"?

I personally prefer to remain in control of my faculties.

[commodious spittoon]

On the other hand, the BMs are probably pretty pleasurable.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

A whole bottle of what is essentially cooking oil could lead to some epically messy shits, and would probably take a half a roll of TP to wipe your ass.

[John]

Then you don't like getting high and wouldn't be using the stuff in the first place. And that is a totally reasonable position. This woman apparently doesn't share it or her and her boyfriend wouldn't have had to bottle. Since she doesn't mind not being in control of her faculties, what is he bitch here?

[UnCivilServant]

Mostly the fact that it appeared in article form.

I don't really care if she did something stupid, it's the wailing to the world about it.

[John]

Exactly. I am not even sure it was that stupid. To the extent it was, the consequences seem pretty tame all and all.

[Citizen X]

I personally prefer to remain in control of my faculties.

WE GET IT.

I suppose, now that you have a lawn, that we should all remove ourselves from it post-haste.

[UnCivilServant]

My lawn is so tiny that for all of you to be on it, you'd have to have formed a human pyramid.

Can Warty lift the whole commentariat?

[Citizen X]

Yes, of course he can.

[Lord Humungus]

Warty and the Deadly Deadlift of the Dead - (with apologies to SF)

[WTF]

Maybe if you're talking squats.

[Warty]

I can deadlift about 10% more, you big silly goose.

[Citizen X]

The "whole commentariat" is Tulpa and like two other dudes. Warty could handle that without even breaking a sweat, if he wasn't constantly sweating anyway because of a different problem.

[Warty]

Problem???

[SugarFree]

Have you ever noticed that it is almost always incredibly boring people who insist they must remain in complete control of their faculties?

[UnCivilServant]

I was once a contender for the most borning man in the world.

The prize is sort of a catch-22 though, once you win it you're slightly less boring, and there's someone more boring than you out there.

Face it, without boring people, the world would be less interesting.

[UnCivilServant]

Face it, without boring people, the worldyou would be less interesting in the scheme of things.

fixed for accuracy.

[Suthenboy]

I like being boring

[Rich]

"Yeah," I said. '"It has 45 times the recommended dose of THC in it, which I didn't realize when I drank it, and now I'm afraid."

Afraid to *vomit*?

[UnCivilServant]

"I don't want to other the bulemics"

[commodious spittoon]

That's appropriating, you shitvomitlord.

[Lee G]

This is somehow worse than alcohol poisoning, which can kill you?

[Ken Shultz]

Vive articles are all about taking things up to 11, and I was gonna call BS, but . . .

"Generally, active THC blood concentrations decrease rapidly after you finish smoking due to its fast uptake into tissues. However, if the uptake tissues are saturated with THC, it isn't uncommon for blood levels of active THC to remain high for several days in chronic marijuana users. This is because over time, these fatty tissues leach THC molecules back into the blood stream . . . where the liver continues metabolizing them into non-psychoactive, THC-COOH derivatives for your body to pass".

http://www.marijuanacentral.co.....-test.html

I suppose it's possible that even a new user could experience that at a high dosage.

Still, 1) if all taking 45 times the recommended dosage does is get you high for a really long time, then that's a hell of a lot safer than most pharmaceuticals, and 2) misuse doesn't justify prohibiting proper usage.

P.S. I wonder if the "runner's high" many joggers get from releasing endorphins might actually come from burning fat in heavy THC users. I knew a guy in high school whose fat was probably the equivalent of the proverbial "two-hitter quitter".

[SugarFree]

I present to you one of her poems.

[Ken Shultz]

You know expectations for your team are too high when not sweeping them out of the playoffs in their backyard is disappointing.

If Philadelphia had started Neuvirth in game 3, Philadelphia might have tied up the series last night.

[Juvenile Bluster]

We still would've lost Game 3, because it wasn't just Mason; the entire team forgot how to play hockey in the second and third periods. But Neuvirth looked great last night.

[Ken Shultz]

It's a game of momentum.

If Neuvirth had blocked an early goal that Mason let in, it's a different game all the way though.

Anyway, total props to Philly and their fans for putting up an effort to be proud of last night.

[Juvenile Bluster]

On another hockey note, an Isles fan threw a drink at the Panthers' announcers at the end of last night's game. I mean, Dennis Potvin is a Panthers announcer. The man is almost single-handedly responsible for giving the Isles 4 Stanley Cups in a row and you're gonna throw a drink at the man?

something something bracelets something something

[Private Chipperbot]

It's not the player, it's the jersey.

[Chipwooder]

Gilmore posted this late in the PM links, so I figure few saw it, but it deserves wider appreciation. It's hardly surprising, but it seems ENB is, shall we say, a bit less than ironclad libertarian.

http://www.bustle.com/articles.....bt-couples

[Idle Hands]

Oh noes!

[Idle Hands]

unfortunately It's not really surprising to see a Reason writer being in favor of accommodation laws:

If you're in business in the United States, you shouldn't be able to choose what classes of people you will or will not do business with. You have the right to not go into business, to choose a profession that will allow you to never deal with whomever it is you don't want to deal with; you don't have the option to go into business and then discriminate based on basic, immutable things ? or you shouldn't have that option, anyway.

[Chipwooder]

And definitely not surprising to see her in particular being enthusiastically in favor of them. Weigel in drag, 100%.

[Mickey Rat]

She steals an intellectual base by conflating refusing to service a particular type of event that is morally and ideologically controversial with refusing to do business with a class of people for any reason.

[Irish ?s Lauren Southern]

Yeah, we already knew about that. I feel that we can fix her though. Don't tread on my dreams.

[Idle Hands]

I keep trying to tell you Irish you can't fuck the crazy out of anybody. Not that ENB is crazy as I enjoy her beat and articles.

[John]

She is very cute. But she also admitted, I forget where, that being a very cold and unemotional person is one of her faults. I think the reality of your dream might be a bit freaky and not fun in the sack freaky.

[Irish ?s Lauren Southern]

I meant we can change her through intellectually stimulating conversations about the nature of liberty and you sick fucks went and made this conversation dirty, unpalatable, and yet another reason why Virginia Postrel hates us.

[UnCivilServant]

I'm a sraight, white, socially and fiscally conservative government bureaucrat union member. Ain't nobody in the world who doesn't hate me for one reason or another.

[commodious spittoon]

I hated you in Reno just to watch you being hated.

[Idle Hands]

Irish I found some audio of you speaking the other day here. I had no idea you were a former presidential candidate.

[Irish ?s Lauren Southern]

George Wallace sounds like a Scot. Do I look like a kilt-loving haggis chomper to you?

[UnCivilServant]

Yes. The scots are descended from Irishmen who crossed to Pictland before the Limeys tried to come north.

[Idle Hands]

I don't know where to even begin to separate the different identities you mackerel snappers came up with to justify your incestial relationships with each other.

[John]

and you sick fucks went and made this conversation dirty, unpalatable,

Its what we do.

[Chipwooder]

I thought she hated us because we're insufficiently glamorous?

[Ken Shultz]

Postrel doesn't hate us.

People like Palin's Buttplug and Tulpa did a number on one of her few threads, and there was no way she could have known those were trolls and not representative of the rest of us.

After the exchanges a number of us had with her at Popehat, I suspect she may see us differently now. We had an extended conversation about precisely the nature of our community here and how the people that swarmed that infamous thread of hers weren't necessarily representative of the rest of us.

She seemed very receptive to that.

[Ken Shultz]

I mean, if all you knew of the Hit & Run community was Tulpa and Palin's Buttplug, you'd hope none of us were going on the Reason cruise, too.

[UnCivilServant]

According to the current meme, the commentariat consists entirely of Tulpa socks.

[Chipwooder]

That's just the kind of misdirection a Tulpa sock would say.

[UnCivilServant]

You can't fool me with accusations like that.

[commodious spittoon]

Got a link for either of those?

[tarran]

Got a link for either of those?

Hier.

[R C Dean]

Wait, being cold and unemotional is a fault?

[Homple]

There is too much trifling with a woman's good name here. If you were a member of a club, I would horsewhip you on the steps of it.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

If you're in business in the United States, you shouldn't be able to choose what classes of people you will or will not do business with.

O'er the land of the free...

[Juvenile Bluster]

Wahoo! More "Reason writer isn't a true libertarian" drama! That's always SO much fun.

[Chipwooder]

Sure it is!

Look, I'm not the doctrine police - I'd hardly pass muster as a true libertarian either. Then again, no one's paying me to write for a libertarian mag. I just thought that it was particularly amusing given her "cultural libertarian" post from yesterday where she earnestly pays tribute to the idea that, even if the left doesn't always go about it the right way, the cause of "social justice" is quite noble and amenable to libertarianism.

[Mickey Rat]

Where she hold forth it is acceptable to not do business with people for holding views you disagree with. But it should be illegal to not do business with people whose views she agrees with.

[SugarFree]

And most of the people so invested in it aren't even remotely libertarian themselves.

[commodious spittoon]

"Jesus told me not to serve Hispanics" certainly wouldn't garner the same sort of support on national television.

Well, no, but that's hardly a fair comparison. Being Hispanic isn't violating anyone's moral beliefs, which is the essence of the issue. And how is this not a shakedown? The couple has the right to discriminate between shops, but chose the one baker who did not care for their business. And yet we deny the baker his moral agency under the presumption that doing business means opening your door to anyone and everyone. That's not libertarian in the slightest.

[John]

People are gay because they choose to be so. They may not choose to like sex with the same sex but they none the less choose to do it. Just because you prefer something doesn't mean you are not responsible for choosing to do it. Saying someone is immoral because they are gay may not be right (that is a matter of what your values are), but it is not the same thing as saying someone is immoral because they are Hispanic or Black.

[Crusty Juggler]

People are gay because they choose to be so.

[John]

They are. You don't choose what you like. But you do choose what you do. I refuse to deprive gays of their moral agency and treat them like some kind of genetic mutation. I don't care who they sleep with. But they are responsible for the choice.

[Mr. Flanders]

You don't choose what sex you're attracted to. You only choose whether or not you have sexual relations with that particular gender. Thus, you don't "choose to be gay", because "gay" only references your preferences - not your actions.

[commodious spittoon]

Except that's not the violation of conscience, either. Unlike militant Muslims throwing gays off rooftops to their deaths, this baker simply did not want to take part in what he perceives to be a violation of a sanctified act. His crime wasn't aggressing against a gay couple, it was refusing to take their money for services he preferred not to render. But taking a profession or opening a business means chattel slavery to society, and ENB apparently supports that notion.

[Zeb]

Depends on what you mean by "being gay". If it means engaging in homosexual activity, then you are right. If it means the preference and primary sexual attraction to the same sex, then not so much. I think that a lot of people consider the latter to be what it means. You can be gay (or straight) and still be a virgin. I think most people would agree with that.

[WTF]

I think most of us already knew this.

[Ken Shultz]

"It's hardly surprising, but it seems ENB is, shall we say, a bit less than ironclad libertarian."

Yeah, I think that's been hidden in plain sight for a long time.

When people have to struggle to find the libertarian take, you can tell.

Libertarians don't generally have to struggle to stick up for the Eighth Amendment rights of terrorists, the Fifth Amendment rights of child molesters, the First Amendment free speech rights of Nazis, the Klan's First Amendment right to assembly, . . .

Why should it be hard to stick up for the First Amendment rights of Baptists?

Some people really can't fathom committed libertarianism that way. Some of them think we're rat-fuckers and we should set ourselves on fire. I mean we knew that's what Weigel thought before everyone else found out, right? We knew that the Post hiring Weigel to explain the Tea Party to progressives was like hiring a creationist to explain evolution.

It was different with Kerry Howley. I might have disagreed with Howley on any particular issue, but even when she was writing about feminism, I never got the sense that she was anything but libertarian.

[GILMORE?]

FYI - everyone has seen that before;

the reason it was notable to remind people of it was because ENB wrote an extended article about how other journalists who claimed a "Cultural Libertarian"-mantle often lacked sufficient "Hayeckian" bona-fides and should be consequently taken less seriously...

...(and at the very least, mocked from a distance while desperately avoiding any association with them).

I just thought it was funny for her to be throwing stones on the subject of ideological credibility.

[Chipwooder]

I thought that may be the case, but it was new to me.

[Zeb]

That was 2 1/2 years ago too. I suspect she may have evolved a bit since then. When did she start at Reason?

[GILMORE?]

about 2 & 1/2 years ago. 🙂 her oldest articles (that i could find) date to early 2014.

I don't doubt that 'people change'.

Its just that her actual arguments here @ reason often reflect more vestigial bias than they do any 'transformation'.

She's had that Bustle quote thrown in her face a half dozen times in the last 2 years, and to my knowledge has never so much as suggested she's taken any different view since.

Some say its a "thick vs thin" debate going on. Which i guess is fine - except that she and others seem to think (as per her recent "Cultural Libertarian" piece) that a particularly-leftist-version of "Thick" deserves the mantle while Thins do not.

Anyone who goes around asserting positive rights and then calling themselves "real libertarians" deserves to have their chops-busted mercilessly until they make their case more-explicitly.

[Zeb]

Yeah, sure. I'd be happier without a whole lot of arguments about what makes a "real libertarian" anyway. Just say what you mean. The name you give it doesn't matter. Perhaps I have less expectation than some that Reason should only ever hire pure, hard libertarians and an-caps. These are people who write for money. I had a funny exchange once with someone complaining about Robby and his weasel words and calling him a whore. Of course he is a whore. He's writing for pay.
Anyway, everyone knows that if you aren't an anarchist, you aren't pure anything. Libertarianism is a utilitarian compromise.

[Acosmist]

Evolved which direction? Seriously, stahp white knighting this...person.

[Zeb]

Fuck off. I'm not white knighting anyone. I just like giving people the benefit of the doubt. Sorry I'm not an asshole who feels the need to be a dick to everyone I disagree with even a little bit.

[Tornado16nb]

Liberal blogger Ryan cooper at theweek complains about life expectancy vs income.

Goes onto say the conservative solution of moving poor rural folks to thriving cities is expensive and can't be absorbed. I didn't even know that was a con policy.

Also the conservatives apparently are creating an underclass

His solution? Single payer which would be great for outcomes (somehow but never detailed) and giving the poor more government checks. According to him simple effective and cheap.

His ideas would be expensive and further incentivize the people to get dependent on government goodies.

Before he has also called for raising taxes by 10k on couples making a 100k because people suffer from analysis paralysis therefore government can make better decisions for you

I can't stand these smug know it alls

[commodious spittoon]

He's probably referring to Kevin Williamson's piece advising individuals in economically stagnant parts of the country to pack up and leave, which obvious is not a policy of relocating people en mass. It's the left that wanted forced busing.

[Tornado16nb]

Ah so he was being dishonest....do lefties ever not lie?!!

[Warty]

There's no link and I don't feel motivated enough to seek out the article. Is he against some strawman idea of packing hillbillies into cattle cars and dropping them off in San Jose? Or is he just complaining about KDW's article saying you should pack up and move out of Pigtaint, Indiana when the mill closes?

[Irish ?s Lauren Southern]

"Or is he just complaining about KDW's article saying you should pack up and move out of Pigtaint, Indiana when the mill closes?"

But KDW said all poor white people should die horribly. That's what the article said and nothing you tell me will convince me that's not actually what he was saying. /Trumpette

[Tornado16nb]

I didn't read kW article but his can be found on http://www.ryanlouiscooper.com

He argued the former

[Irish ?s Lauren Southern]

Oh my God, that fucking idiot does link to the KDW article and say this:

"The only other obvious solution is that favored by conservatives: post-WWII-style population transfers from struggling to thriving communities. That would be hellishly expensive, probably not very popular, and has every chance of just creating a new struggling underclass in the previously-thriving location. San Francisco could not simply absorb all of Appalachia."

No, dipshit but ALL the places where there are jobs could absorb ALL the the labor from super poor urban areas. We're not saying they should all move to San Francisco. It would be sufficient for people in Appalachia to move closer to Lexington.

I also wonder what Ryan Cooper's opinion on immigration is. I don't have to wonder - he favors open borders. If he thinks it would be impossible for American cities to absorb poor rural Americans, how the fuck can he think those same cities can absorb millions of Mexicans?

[Tornado16nb]

Yea he for sure strawmanned it

[SugarFree]

It would be sufficient for people in Appalachia to move closer to Lexington.

No thanks.

[Warty]

Every Appalachian hillbilly with any ambition long ago moved to Cincinnati or Pittsburgh or Cleveland or Detroit to work in the mills. And then they stayed when the mills closed so their grandchildren could enjoy meth in peace.

True fact: So many West Virginians moved to Ashtabula, Ohio, to work in the Union Carbide mill that there's a pronounced twang in the whole county. And a markedly larger number of trailer parks than the surrounding places, too.

[commodious spittoon]

You can take an Appalachian out of Appalachia, but you can't take the Appalachia out of an Appalachian.

[Warty]

Pretty much. Read Albion's Seed.

[Lord Humungus]

+1 Banjo duel

[Citizen X]

You can't take an Appalachian out of another Appalachian, either.

I'm referring to incest, folks.

[commodious spittoon]

Pigtaint, Indiana

*sustained applause*

[Warty]

On that note, I thought it was amazing that Trump promised to bring steel back when he had his little rally in Pittsburgh. It's the fondest dream of the loserest of the losers. It's incredible.

[tarran]

It's also the only way a Republican can win a presidential election.

Seriously. The rustbelt unions break republican only when they are offered protectionist policies by the republican. A high tarrif on imported steel can net quite a number of electoral votes - if offered by the Republican.

[Warty]

Oh, I know. But it's amazing. No one thinks steel is ever coming back, but a huge number of people pretend to believe it, or something.

[Chipwooder]

Which is kind of funny given what a miserable job working in a steel mill is.

[UnCivilServant]

I donno, being cooked alive doing heavy manual labor in the vicinity of molten metal...

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

I've got family in Pig Taint. There's a Rally's/Drivr Thru Church near the gun store/liquor store strip mall trailer park.

[GILMORE?]

the conservative solution of moving poor rural folks to thriving cities is expensive and can't be absorbed. I didn't even know that was a con policy..

That's actually a very-progressive policy, and one which permeates almost every part of their politics. make people dependent on urban hubs, and draw populations into their sphere. Everything from gun-control to hi-speed rail, reducing school choice, growing the influence of unions, making car-travel more expensive, strict-land-use and environmental regulations etc. Everything is about destroying the power of the smaller-city & rural communities in favor of denser-populated Large-Urban-MSA's and their suburbs.

Does this guy really think its a "Conservative" plot? I'd love to see what his case is for that.

[GILMORE?]

Here's what he actually says *(& links to) =

The only other obvious solution is that favored by conservatives: post-WWII-style population transfers from struggling to thriving communities. That would be hellishly expensive, probably not very popular, and has every chance of just creating a new struggling underclass in the previously-thriving location. San Francisco could not simply absorb all of Appalachia.

He links to Kevin Williamsons piece, which says, =

The truth about these dysfunctional, downscale communities is that they deserve to die. Economically, they are negative assets. Morally, they are indefensible. Forget all your cheap theatrical Bruce Springsteen crap. Forget your sanctimony about struggling Rust Belt factory towns and your conspiracy theories about the wily Orientals stealing our jobs. ....They need real opportunity, which means that they need real change, which means that they need U-Haul.

This doesn't strike me so much as a "conservative plot to engage in post WWII-style population transfers" as it is an encouragement for 'poor white communities' to stop moaning for govt protections and simply re-locate somewhere more economically-active. That isn't any sort of praise of urbanism by default.

[John]

The Williamson article is hardly the "conservative position", whatever that means. That article has caused more bad blood among conservatives than any other article I have ever seen. Williamson is a lazy piece of shit who made a bunch of hasty generalizations about a subject he knows nothing about. The whole thing was just Williamson virtue signaling and telling other conservative elites that he isn't one of the white trash but is like them. that article represents nothing other than Williamson's ignorance and desire to social climb from whatever trailer park in Texas he crawled out of.

[GILMORE?]

Williamson is a lazy piece of shit who made a bunch of hasty generalizations about a subject he knows nothing about.

Well i'm not familiar with him or the reaction to his article, but the point he makes is nothing but common sense (if said in a brusque manner)

There are small-cites & towns which are poor and declining because they've lost industries and young-people. The 'conservative' solution is not trade-protectionism and govt handouts, obviously - he suggests that the solution for many of these people is to tool-up and move their asses somewhere more economically vibrant. That's not exactly the craziest or irrational proposal. Its also NOT what Ryan Cooper describes as 'population-transfers/forced migration' so much as it is simple economic reality.

[John]

It is lazy for a couple of reasons. First, those towns are not dying because of some free market reality. They are dying because those areas are being out voted by people from bigger cities who support regulations that are choking the industry there. It is fucking rich for Williamson to claim that some steel town in up state New York "deserves to die" after Albany basically made its industry illegal. Williamson totally ignores the role government has played in destroying these towns and assumes that since they are dying it must be right and good and produced by the market.

Second, there is no evidence that poor people or people in small towns are any more or less likely to use drugs. A five minute search reveals study after study that shows drug use and drug abuse if nearly evenly distributed throughout society. Poor people get caught for using drugs more but they don't use them with any more frequency. Williamson of course didn't bother to do any research. He just slurred everyone in those towns as being a drug addict with no regard to the actual truth. It sounded good and fit his narrative so that was enough.

Williamson is just a piece of shit. He is frankly one of the biggest know nothing lowlifes in journalism. And that is pretty amazing when you consider his competition.

[R C Dean]

Forced relocation is a conservative policy position? Really? Why have I never heard of a conservative proposing it, then?*

*Note: I am sure a Google search will turn up an example or two. Despite the laziness of my argument, I am trying to highlight that this certainly isn't a widespread or high-profile conservative position, and it may be misleading to present it as such, even by implication.

[Brett L]

And yet Houston, Dallas, and Austin have absorbed approximately 10 million people in 20 years. Oh look, we moved Arkansas and Mississippi to Texas and no one noticed. (Unfortunately it was more like 1/5th of San Francisco 1/2 of New Orleans and then the good people of Arkansas)

[GILMORE?]

Yeah - ryan cooper's assumption that the only places that are "Thriving" are progressive urban utopias like San Fran is incredibly naive. Raleigh NC has grown 50% in the last 12 years, and Orlando and Phoenix and Charlotte are each added 30%....all together like 3-4 million people.

This idea that 'nothing is happening outside the progressive bubble' is widespread.

[John]

WE actually moved upstate New York and most of the rust belt to Texas.

[Zeb]

What does he think is going to happen in those declining rural communities when they get more welfare?

Sometimes changes in the economy or technology just make certain places irrelevant. And throwing money at them isn't going to make them prosperous again.

[Warty]

We seem to be suffering an epidemic of everyone being a gigantic pussy.

Men are about twice as likely as women to say it's acceptable to make fun of someone's race or gender. About 27 percent of men condoned private jokes or comments about a person's race, compared to only 16 percent of women. About 27 percent of men condoned private jokes or comments about a person's gender or sexuality, compared to only 13 percent of women. And 13 percent of men said such jokes were also acceptable in public, compared to 7 percent of women.

The gender disparity sharpens when it comes to people's own behavior. Men are twice as likely say they drop the f-bomb at least once a day. About 31 percent of men report a daily f-word habit, compared to 16 percent of women.

Only 31 percent? What a bunch of faggots.

[Idle Hands]

Seriously:

His voice choked with emotion, Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw apologized Wednesday for using a homophobic slur during a penalty-box tirade late in Game 4 of the Blackhawks' first-round series against the Blues that resulted in a one-game suspension.

After being assessed a penalty late in the Hawks' 4-3 loss Tuesday night at the United Center, Shaw raised both middle fingers (with his gloves on) at officials en route to the penalty box and once there, went on a profanity-laced tirade during which he used the slur.

"I wanted to apologize for my actions ? I have no excuses for anything," Shaw said Wednesday at O'Hare before the Hawks boarded their charter flight for St. Louis, where they will face the Blues in Game 5 of their Western Conference quarterfinals series Thursday night. "I want to apologize to the gay and lesbian community. That's not the type of guy I am."

The NHL suspended Shaw for Game 5, fined him $5,000 for the obscene gesture and also will require Shaw to undergo sensitivity training.

[commodious spittoon]

Was he accusing the ref of being gay or being a faggot? I don't know about the ref, but I don't think gays are faggots for being gay. I guess he must.

[WTF]

The NHL...will require Shaw to undergo sensitivity training.

That's it, it's all over, turn out the fucking lights.

[Ken Shultz]

They're just pandering to Canadians.

American NHL fans don't care if you call someone a faggot.

Canadians have a sense of fairness that is an awesome thing to behold.

On judgement day, I want my jury packed with Canadians.

[Ken Shultz]

Here's an excellent example of bench banter between teams.

NSFW?

It starts out with "Get off the ice, you faggot!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psAHxS1GGyk

Other memorable quotes:

"You play like a broad, you pussy!"

"Grow some balls, you tit-fucker!"

Bellows got over it, I'm sure.

[commodious spittoon]

How does one who never developed testicles fuck tits, and why is tit-fucking shameful?

[Ken Shultz]

14 year olds pop their corks over titty-fucking.

You take 'em to a titty bar and they lose it in their pants.

It's unmanly.

[Mr. Flanders]

Why are you taking 14 year olds to titty bars?

[Lord Humungus]

What no Slapshot clip?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7tvfdSjRE4

[bacon-magic]

I'm a Blues fan and I say give the guy a break, we are stomping his team's collective ass.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Does "what the fuck" count as an f-bomb or does it have to be more direct? It's a rare day I even make it past my morning reading without several of those.

[Warty]

I've gone to great lengths to structure my life in such a way that I can say fuck whenever I want with no consequences. Sucks to be Normal if you can't, I guess.

[R C Dean]

Eh. I find cursing to be a sign of laziness.

Put a little effort into chewing people out. Its actually more effective without cursing (although a very occasional curse can be deployed for emphasis, but its rarity is what makes it work).

[Idle Hands]

I'm pretty sure the f-bomb is "faggot" but I can't say for sure because of the paywall, if that's the case you should be good.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

"Faggot" being the f-bomb would be yet another example of cultural decay.

[SugarFree]

Grown ass humans using the phrase "f-bombs" are far more offensive to me than the word "fuck" ever could be,

[Warty]

Insert link to Louis C.K.'s bit about "the n-word" here.

[commodious spittoon]

SugarFree's latest character Enward McBlacky was maybe a bit on the nose, even for him.

[Old Man With Candy]

About 31 percent of men report a daily f-word habit, compared to 16 percent of women.

Fuck you, Warty.

Now it's 32%.

[John]

If we can't mercilessly tease on another about our looks and ancestry, how are we supposed to get along? Anyone who has worked in a kitchen or a metal shop or any environment where people work hard and don't worry about polite sensibilities and there are a mix of ethnicity, knows that making fun of each other's ethnicities is just what people do and not something that should be an issue.

[Citizen X]

Hush, you Kraut bastard.

[Lord Humungus]

Damn Wops around here.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

I agree. There are too many of them. We should build a wall.

[commodious spittoon]

You know who else had to build a wall...

[bacon-magic]

Anit-pasto wall?

[commodious spittoon]

I worked construction with a guy who befriended a native temp. After a few days the native told him, "You're cool, man. You deserve a proper Indian name... something cool. Cool Arrow. Chief Cool Arrow." He was pretty proud of it until someone informed him what culero means in Spanish.

[Chipwooder]

I applaud that kind of inventiveness!

[commodious spittoon]

It's the sort of innovative, entrepreneurial spirit this country used to celebrate.

[Zeb]

Yeah, 31% seems low.

I'm really glad I work with the people I do. Good, healthy use of "fuck" and off-color jokes. I sometimes worry when we hire someone new that they will fuck it all up, but for the most part new people seem to appreciate our particular culture and decide that it's better not to give a fuck.

[Citizen X]

Fuckin' aye!

[bacon-magic]

At my work, if they don't insult you, you are not really part of the team.

[Zeb]

Pretty much. I'm sort of the boss, but even that doesn't make me immune.

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[sofiyathomas1236]

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[carolflores0001]

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[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Wow. Is she touching the Queen?

I'm pretty sure that breaks some Royalty protocol.

She's something your First Lady.

[Rich]

"Let's *move* that white ass, Queenie!"

[some guy]

I mean, it almost never completely freezes over anymore.

[UnCivilServant]

Arrest the wookie for assaulting the monarch.

Please.

[WTF]

Okay, that does seem like a sensible article. I just take issue with what he seems to be calling libertarian.

[Suthenboy]

"Homo sapiens has been around for about 200,000 years, and for the first 189,240 nothing happened."

You don't know about it means it didn't happen.

[Mickey Rat]

I am thinking you are not seeing the forest for the trees, there. He is not describing libertarianism but rather what self-decribed libertarians have talked themselves into supporting.

[Chipwooder]

Andrew Shaw calling someone a faggot? Suspension

Kris Letang knocking out three of Viktor Stalberg's teeth with a high stick chop to the face? Not even a fucking minor penalty. The NHL will kiss Pepe LePew's ass and bend over backwards to help his team until the day that sonofabitch dies.

[Chipwooder]

Sharks would have to win that, or I'd have to move. I live in Virginia - it would be unbearable to put up with Caps fans if they win.

[Idle Hands]

We aren't that bad are we?

[Chipwooder]

Depends - there are two classes of Caps fans. One is the diehard class, who either grew up in DMV or have lived there for a long time, and have followed them through thick and thin for decades. I have no problem with them. The other is the scumbags who moved here in the past 15 years, don't know shit about hockey, and just jumped on the bandwagon about ten years ago when Ovechkin arrived and the team became really good. They're obnoxious and ignorant.

[Idle Hands]

Well I'm form there but am for sure in the in the second group.